Words by

Elías Þórsson

@Eliasthorsson

Photo by

Jacob Spinks

Good news everyone! Not since the time of the Gothic novel, Victorian sensibilities and rampant homophobia against Oscar Wilde have there been more white-tailed eagles in Iceland.

Speaking to Morgunblaðið, Kristinn Haukur Skarphéðinsson from the nature conservation institution Náttúrverndarstofnun said that this summer 76 eagle couples lived in Iceland–two more than last year. Thirty six chicks came out of 28 nests this summer.

Back from the brink

The white-tailed eagle has also been expanding its nesting area with more eagles living in the south of Iceland.

The eagle was protected in 1913, but despite that it almost went extinct in the 1960s, when only 20 couples remained.